Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Deep meditation underwater.

Saturday was a mixed bag of a day that included coastal weather from hell, personal challenges, unexpected search and recovery missions, and a slew of other reasons why the day should just have just totally sucked... however it was anything BUT sucktastic. Just goes to show that if you're spending it with the right people and doing the right things, all the other details don't matter much.

A strange unexpected highlight was the joy discovered in a deep underwater meditation. Sent down to play an unresponsive diver on the bottom, I stayed in place for almost 40 minutes. While diving isn't strenuous, you realize quickly how movement of any type keeps you warm; the drysuit and undergarment that was keeping me comfortable while moving turned into an icebox when at rest. It was only the last 10 minutes or so that were uncomfortable, however, and some in-place movement helped.

It was worth what I discovered in minutes 10-25. After settling on a bare sandy bottom in 1' foot viz I quickly exhausted anything of interest nearby, and I turned inward. Diving, even the simplest dip in a pool, clears my head and focuses my mind like nothing else. It's not unlike yoga in that you start with the breath; everything hinges on the breath. Closing my eyes I controlled and slowed my breathing, and quickly found myself having an intense inner-body experience (versus an out-of-body experience). This type of full body awareness usually takes me much longer to achieve, as I sit in practice on land, struggling to shed the layers of distraction that cling to me. Given I'd already shed most of that through the process of gearing up and entering the water, though, I was able to start from that place. Almost as simple as turning a glass on its side, I felt my awareness expand and flood down my spine to the tips of my fingers and the ends of my toes.

Full. In every way. What a glorious feeling. And it has a wonderful lasting effect, too.

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